It's a Boyband Situation
by ibopeep
Summary: Gratuitous boyband AU: Basically, all the Allied forces countries (as humans that were already singers in their own country) are thrown into an international boyband project that tests their limits and changes their lives (FrUK, Ameripan, not sure about Russia and China)-various other characters probably will be involved
1. Chapter 1

-January 2015-

It was after an agonising show in packed theatre with hundreds of pre-teen girls screaming his name, Alfred F Jones retired to his tiny dressing room from the sweltering heat of the spotlights. His voice was strained and his muscles were aching from a choreography-heavy set. Alfred had been a national 'pop sensation' for a year now, and half of that had been spent on tour. This was the penultimate stop on that tour, and he was spent. Endless interviews, rehearsals, photo-shoots and so much singing. The last thing that he needed was to be welcomed to his dressing room by the sight of a stranger sifting through his iPod.

'Uh, did Bill let you in? He tends to let a fan past every now and then as a prank and-'

'Excuse me for interrupting, but I have a proposition for you.'

The stranger was a young woman who seemed to have some kind of French accent, her hair loosely braided over her shoulder, wearing a neat blouse, blazer and pencil skirt. Alfred on the other hand, had been dressed in a neon blue mesh vest complete with tacky black letterman jacket and skinny jeans that were tight in all the wrong places. Somehow, Alfred felt a little overdressed.

'Woah, what's up with the formality, man, what exactly are you doing here? Who are you?'

'My name is Monique Durand, I am an international music industry chief, and I am interested in you.'

Alfred coughed and scratched his neck agitatedly.

'I don't mean to be rude but as you might have found out, I already have a manager and a label that has signed me for my ultimately short career, and I'm about to finish the tour that has been killing me for the past six months and even THEN there are still empty seats after all this stupid promo-work!'

In reaction to Alfred's minor rant, to which he himself was taken aback, Monique only raised an eyebrow.

'I can tell you are tired, Monsieur Jones, but I need you to listen to me for a moment. What I am offering is an exciting opportunity to skyrocket your career.'

'And why do you think my career hasn't skyrocketed enough already?'

I'm your new manager.' Monique deadpanned.

'Since when?! I didn't have a say in this!'

'Your manager, Bill, and I agreed that the prospects of this project are too good to risk'

'And I don't have a say in this?!'

'Oh you do, but once you hear about the project, you will definitely change your mind.'

Alfred was cautious. 'Ok then tell me.'

'What do you think about joining a group?'

'I think that's a terrible idea, did you see what happened to One Direction? Crashed and burned, just like the rest of them' Alfred shrugged.

'I am aware, but this, is very different.'

Alfred leaned forward in his seat. 'I'm listening,'

'The group is formed of five artists- from around the globe- and will be a project to ease cultural tensions between these five countries through music.'

'That's a mouthful.'

'We already know who else will be in the group- we haven't got to them yet but whether they are as… agreeable as you is another matter, but they are well known in their countries and some have an international presence of sorts- you even have some on your iPod, you know I checked earlier- Anyway, I'm sure you're a little excited by this?'

Alfred's mind was running with possibilities, Adele, Enrique Iglesias… Ok he didn't really know very many superstars who weren't American, but if these were artists at the same level as him, they wouldn't be anyone like Tom Jones or Bjork. But he apparently had some on his iPod. He rushed to grab it from the dresser Monique returned it to, but she stopped him.

'I need an answer.'

'Yeah- Yes of course! When are we gonna start?'

* * *

Ok it's my first story, I am aware it could be written better, perhaps I will edit it

Yeah so this will hopefully be a long story, the first couple of chapters will be introducing the backgrounds of the characters, and then after that there will be, and this is a warning, uses of songs that already exist


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur gazed out of the window, into the rain that battered the passing cars and pedestrians. His brothers were fighting again. He'd be joining them, if he wasn't on vocal rest, and could use his voice for the next hour. But unfortunately he is, and he is bored. He and his brothers formed a band together because they were the only people that could put up with each other, and have been fighting ever since. Obviously most of the time it's only a little squabbling or banter, but when your siblings were all raised in different parts of the UK for most of their childhood, it can cause a few rifts. When they were young their parents and teachers thought it best to split them up as the fighting was detrimental to their education, so they were sent to boarding schools in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, while Arthur stayed in London. He still had to go to boarding school, but his brothers all thought him lucky to stay reasonably close to home, so he has been on the receiving end of a lot of teasing. He knows it's only because all of them were emotionally constipated.

'Look, Andy, I just don't think suspending the drum kit 10m above the stage is a good idea!'

'Oh, don't gimme that bollocks, of course it can! And then I'd be at my rightful place as the leader of the band! If Arrrtiee-'Andy retorts, sing-songing his name '-is the front man, I can be… the TOP man!'

'That's not how it works, mate' Colin interjected from his swivel chair across the room.

'Yeah, well it's how it should work around here, I AM the oldest'

'We know you're the oldest, you don't need to keep mentioning it like there's guests around'

'Shut up Greg'

'Yeah shut up Greg'

'Colin stop joining in you are NOT even PART of this'

'ooOOOooo someone's getting their knickers in a twist'

'Oh my GOD'

'Seriously guys?' Arthur chimed in

A collective groan resounded through the room

'You're supposed to be shutting your gob for the next-'Greg checked his watch '-0 minutes. Oh. You're fine!'

'Yes, I was just _desperate_ to get back into this stimulating conversation'

'I think we should put him back on vocal rest, don't you?' Greg suggested

'Yes what a _marvellous_ idea old chum!' Colin replied in a mock English accent

'Why are you doing this? Why.' Arthur tried

'I think it may be _absolutely superb_ for him to zip it _right this instant!' _Andrew jested.

'How do you still not get how un-posh my accent is'

This went on for quite some time until their manager/father came in with news that there was someone on the phone for Arthur.

Colin was first to intervene 'Ah! Arthur can't come to the phone now, he's on _involuntary vocal rest_! I'll take the call for him!' Colin then lunged for the phone while Andy and Greg clamped their hands over Arthur's mouth and rugby-tackled him to the sofa.

'Ah! Hm. Yes. Mm-hm. Got it. I'm sure he'll be dee-lighted to do it! OK! Bye now!' Colin hung up.

A strangled cry was heard from behind the other two's hands.

When they released him, Arthur dived for the phone while Colin dropped it while wearing a cheeky grin on his face. Arthur wanted to find out what the hell his stupid Irish brother signed him up for. He hated doing publicity stuff. Any kind of situation that involves putting on airs to sell anything and everything is the kind of situation he hates. Sure, he can be charming, and usually that's all that's asked of a frontman, but being a sell-out is not an option for the Kirklands.

'I've got you signed up for a BOYBAND!'

Shit.

* * *

Well I wrote this fairly quickly to make up for the embarrassment of the first chapter

That's not to say this one is any better

If it helps:

Andy- Scotland- drums

Colin- Northern Ireland- guitar - Arthur also plays guitar while he sings but it's not necessarily rhythm guitar, he and Colin always fight over the different 'lead guitar' solos and riffs so they're pretty much equal

Greg- Wales- bass

they are a sort of rock band, like a mix between arctic monkeys, muse and a touch of 80s punk- but they are still very popular etc

If there were British-isms in there, well, I'm English so I can

Hopefully there'll be more from the Kirklands- I like writing them


	3. Chapter 3

I think you can tell the boyband will turn out like this video- (search- 【第11回MMD杯本選】連合LIVE2013 うるおぼえ脳漿炸裂ガール【APヘタリアMMD】 -in youtube)

Anyway here's Francis's intro

* * *

Francis wrung his hands nervously. Monique hadn't called him for 3 weeks, to tell him any news on the project she told him about. They had been long term friends ever since she put together the Bad Touch Trio 5 years ago, a group consisting of singers from three major European countries. Francis, Antonio and Gilbert ruled most of the continent with their pop anthems, but as with a lot of European acts, they never really broke America. That didn't bother Francis much though, he was getting more than enough fame and fortune on home soil.

About a month ago Monique told him about this new international boyband she was putting together, and that she wanted him to be a part of it. Francis thought this was a little strange, he never really saw himself as standing out in the group, the three of them were all pretty equal in terms of contribution, Antonio the cute one, Gilbert the 'bad boy' (Francis just thought he was being idiotic) and Francis was the 'extremely fashionable and gorgeous' one (his own words).

But Francis was having trouble getting his head around being in both the BTT and this new, bigger band. The others agreed that they needed a break anyway so he could do both, but he always thought that if they split up then he would start a solo career. Antonio and Gilbert were his best friends, and now he had to become friends with more bandmates? This was too much. He might not even like them. He fiddled with his loose ponytail while he was checking his phone.

'Yo Francis we're on in 3!' Gilbert yelled as he barged into his dressing room

'Merci Gilbert, I'm just fixing my hair' Francis replied

'Your hair is fine Francisco! We need to be backstage now ok?' Antonio called from the doorway

The trio were preparing for their last show before their hiatus, a performance on a popular French talk show. Francis grew more weary of his lack of information on the project, or even if it's going ahead at all. If it doesn't, this hiatus will mean nothing. He really needs that phone call.

Francis took his hair out of its ponytail and fluffed it up a bit, padded the narrow, sloping angles of his jaw and nose with his fingers and straightened up. He started to leave, psyching himself up for the show, and just when he was through the doorway he could hear the warbling tones of Edith Piaf's voice. His ringtone.

Francis couldn't leap through a doorway fast enough.

* * *

ooh a short one

Yes his ringtone is Edith Piaf. It's embarrassing how little I know about French music, but I assume that because Piaf is like a national treasure over there that France would be a fan. He gets embarrassed about it too.

I'm starting to think that I'm not showing their character enough in these intros, but I'm telling myself that it's because they're not all together yet, so they're either unfulfilled or not clashing with each other, which brings out their personalities, right?

Anyway, the BTT's style is more poppy, and they do a lot of synchronised dancing, they sing in mixtures of their languages and also English. They're well loved by their large European fanbase. Even though they're not popular outside of Europe, they're still cool, like they dress nice and they're not too pop-ish like Bieber or other tween sensations.


	4. Chapter 4

Ivan was sat alone on a row of uncomfortable airport chairs. He felt lost in a terminal he knows only too well. He had just returned from Bern in Switzerland where he competed in Eurovision 2015 to no success. Sure, he finished second, but in the world of Eurovision, that is the difference between regular stardom and superstardom. Ivan didn't necessarily care about money, he just wanted to be liked, or better: friends. All Ivan had were his two sisters and they haven't talked to him since before he started rehearsing. Ivan performed his best the day before, but then Norway had to come along with their interpretive-dance-filled techno song and stole all the points. Sometimes he thinks that his voice is too soft to be taken seriously, or that he's just generally unlikeable. No, that can't be right, he came second! Somebody has to like him, right? Ivan pondered these questions as he sat in the vast Moscow Airport.

He was popular in Russia, though, and so every now and then he could sense an onlooker sneaking a photo from where they're standing.

As he looked out into the grey surroundings, he could hear someone approaching behind him with quickening steps

'Mr Braginsky?'

'Yes?'

When Ivan turned around he saw a short man in a large winter coat and over-exaggeratedly fluffy hat, holding a sign with Ivan's name on.

'I've been waiting for you outside the terminal where all the _normal_ people are picked up by their chauffeurs and taxis while you have been just sitting there and I've been waiting in the- yes, now it's snowing- like some kind of stupid person! Although, it's not much warmer in here either…'

Ivan instantly felt sorry for the guy, so he went over to the empty café and bought him a hot chocolate with all the extras, and followed him through the airport. It turns out that the chauffeur had watched Eurovision the night before, and they small talked about that for a while, then Ivan mentioned his sisters and a whole other discussion about family began.

'So you're sisters haven't talked to you in how long?'

'3 months'

The chauffeur sharply inhaled through his teeth. 'Yikes. I wouldn't want to come home to that'

'Ah well, they don't live with me anymore, they wanted to be more independent, you see'

'Must be rough living on your own, eh?'

'I guess, but I've always been so busy recently that I've not really noticed until, well, now', he pondered.

'But I bet it's still going to be better than having lots of noisy roommates like I had at your age'

'Mm-hm, I don't think I could survive living with roommates!' Ivan chuckled.

They reached the car a few minutes later. It really had been snowing, but it had died down to a light mist of smaller snowflakes. Ivan preferred this kind of snow to the rough, heavy snow he remembers so vividly from his childhood out in the countryside. He and his sisters had to walk a mile through sometimes blizzard-like snow flurries to get to school. He remembers Katyusha wrapping the three of them in her long scarf and his father's old coat before they set off. Sometimes he wonders if he hasn't repaid her for looking out for him and Natalya while they were smaller, but then he remembers her getting worked up about repaying him for looking after them both when he grew older and taller, and for giving her and Natalya a place to live. He supposed it's all fair now.

'Oh, before you get in, I should warn you, there's a-'

But before the chauffeur could finish, Ivan had already opened the door and moved to sit inside. Already perched on the opposite seat was a smartly dressed young woman.

* * *

I just noticed after having written this that Eurovision is usually in the summer/spring, yet I spent a paragraph talking about snow, and I think Moscow isn't so cold as to snow in the summer. So there's something.

Anyway the chauffeur isn't any nation, he's just a regular Russian guy who hates the cold

Remember to imagine that all the conversation is in Russian, because I certainly forgot

Russia's music is obviously more softer pop, he can do ballads, but they're not very strong sounding. It seems like he's limited in what his voice can work with (but we'll see if it works well as part of a group- hint: yes it does)


	5. Chapter 5

okay so this is an extremely short one because I've been stuck on it for a while now, and obviously there's been christmas to focus on, and then it was my birthday, so yeah it's been a while. I've basically been stuck because I've been thinking about chapters further into the story, so I just wanted to finish up the introduction chapters and get started on the actual good bits. I'm gonna start writing them right away!

* * *

Yao glanced at his watch as he sat down at his piano. His producers had once again handed him the songs to his next album, already written and composed, and waiting for Yao to perform. He had always secretly wanted a little choice in what he sung, instead of churning out ballad after ballad, and he yearned to sing some upbeat pop songs that others in the industry were doing. He began to practice, his fingers lightly pressing the keys to the introduction of his opening track, then, checking the door, slid away from the keys onto a chair and checked his email on his phone. He was so bored of practicing.

'YAO! I DON'T HEAR ANY PRACTICE IN THERE!' his manager shouted from the other room

Yao rolled his eyes and sat back at the piano, except this time he simultaneously checked his emails whenever he had a free hand.

He was supposed to be the 'Darling of the Chinese music industry', but this next album was turning out to be some garbage filled with lyrics about 'perfect girls' that are somehow supposed to relate to his demographic of regular people. It's not that he didn't like what he did, he felt he just needed a break otherwise he would end up feeling empty and purposeless.

Totally coincidentally, he came across an email that would grant him just that.

* * *

Also I'll be adding song/voice ideas for some chapters, like a readable musical or something, for instance this one, I think that 'This is the Last Time' by Keane works well as a song that sort of illustrates what china is feeling? the lyrics are kind of ambiguous? The singer's voice not what I imagine China's voice to be like, but there's piano in it so just imagine that he plays this out of frustration in a song break like a musical. OK? I like the thought of this fic being a musical experience if that doesn't sound too pretentious

ok so new chapter on the way, where they all meet, yipee.


	6. Chapter 6

Alrighty, here it is!

* * *

Monaco, February

Francis had arrived last, which was surprising since he lived closest to Monaco, but he thought that maybe if he arrived later then he would avoid any awkward waiting around with strangers, and can check them all out as a whole. He didn't have any clue as to what they would be doing at this first meeting, but he was excited all the same. In this room, there are four possibly life-changing people, for the better or for worse. Or this whole thing could fail completely and be an embarrassment for all of their careers, but Francis didn't want to think about that too much.

Before he got to the room he was approached by Monique

"You be sure not to incite any conflicts that would achieve the opposite of what we're trying to do here."

"Why, is that a possibility?"

"See for yourself." Monique sighed as she opened the door for Francis.

Immediately upon entering, he was hit by one loud, American voice.

"Wait so you're from Russia? OH MAN THAT IS SO COOL! YOU GOTTA TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT!"

The room he had entered had a sofa, some instruments and a small circle of chairs in the centre, currently occupied by four very different men.

Francis looked around the room at is new bandmates. His eye went straight to the source of the noise, a young blonde man emphatically waving his hands at a large (well Francis could only assume, he seemed to be wearing a lot of layers), distressed looking man, who turned his head to Francis when he entered as if to plea for help. Sat next to him was a Chinese man who seemed to be dwarfed by the American and the Russian, chipping in every now and then to give his opinion on the situation, even if it wasn't needed. Lastly, Francis's gaze drew to the final man in the room, another blonde, who was currently slumped in his chair, and while being sat in the circle of chairs with the others, looked distant in comparison. Although, upon entering the room, along with the Russian, he had turned to Francis and was staring at him inquisitively.

After a few seconds all eyes were on Francis. The American stood up and held out his hand to him.

"Hi there! I'm Alfred Jones, from America if you can't tell already. And you?"

Francis shook his hand with an easy smile. "Francis Bonnefoy, France"

"Huh! Well that's great! Looks like this is the full set then, Monique!" Alfred exclaimed towards Monique, who was still waiting by the door.

"Yes, Alfred, this is everyone. Well, I'm going to be taking my leave- but before I go, I'll give you some things I've already organised." She handed them a folded piece of paper. "Now you five get on with getting to know each other." Monique promptly left the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Well, I was only sucked into this thing by accident so I'm probably going to be leaving in-"

Arthur was interrupted by the rather inconspicuous sound of the door being locked.

Monique's glare peered through the window of the door accompanied with an eerie thumbs up.

"What the hell is going on?!" Yao whined.

"Wait a sec, guys, we should really read the paper before we start assuming things like we've been trapped in this room by a madwoman forever. I'll read it out:" Alfred assured.

"_I've trapped you in this room for the night. Francis probably hasn't told you that I am a madwoman. LOLZ._

_BTW I've assigned you all 'classic boyband' roles:_

_Alfred: the leader_

_Arthur: the heart-throb_

_Francis: the feminine one_

_Ivan: baby spice_

_Yao: high notes_

_Chew on that suckas"_

Alfred coughed, "Well, uh… she didn't say forever?"

"Why do I get heart-throb?" Arthur piped up

"Why does _he _get heart-throb?!" Francis half-yelled

"What's a baby spice?"

"Wha- HIGH NOTES?!" Yao practically screeched.

"That's awfully blunt isn't it, not like Mr Femininity over here" Arthur chuckled while elbowing Francis

"Oh! That's what I know you from! That stupid British band filled with those rude ugly brothers!" Francis spat back

"Oh really? I think this 'heart throb' thing says otherwise"

"What kind of heart throb has eyebrows like that?!"

"Oh really, you're going for eyebrows now? What are you, 12?"

"I think that we should ignore these role things and figure out how we're escaping…" Yao interjected

Alfred laughed, "Nah dude I'm sure it'll all work out- I mean, she made me the leader right? This is bound to fix itself!"

"I'm not so sure about that…" Ivan quietly added

Arthur groaned loudly "I hope there's alcohol around here somewhere because I don't think I'd be able to stand the lot of you without the glorious trickery of drunkenness."

"Well it's your lucky day Kirkland! There appears to be a bar of sorts in the corner" Francis laughed as he pointed to what looked like a cardboard box full of cheap cans of beer on the floor.

* * *

I promise the next chapter is probably going to be much better, I have an idea for it, i just have to write it properly ha

on another note, i did some arduous research (scoured youtube) and found a russian pop song that sounds like a soft-ish voice to fit with the head-canon voice i have for Ivan- a mix of the ridiculously soft and child-like japanese voice actor's voice with the dub's more realistic (?) voice and it is called:

Дима Билан - Дотянись

any fans of russian music out there that can tell me if this guy is like the Russian version of Enrique Iglesias because I totally see it

I did the same kind of research for Chinese pop singers but I couldn't find any male artists that had a high voice or female artists that didn't sound distinctly female, you see my problem

Oh and also HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYBODY


	7. Chapter 7

word of warning guys, if you don't know who NSync are then look them up or leave yourself to wonder/be confused

* * *

After about an hour of furious drinking- an unspoken competition between the bickering Arthur and Francis- the atmosphere had calmed down significantly. Alfred was still in his chair talking animatedly at Ivan, who was beginning to take part in the conversation for the first time, and Yao was wondering why they were all put together. What made them all more suited for an international super-group than anyone else? They were neither superstars nor nobodies, they had large fanbases, yes, but nothing outrageous. Why has Monique chosen these five?

Arthur and Francis were slumped on the sofa. The arguing had reduced to slurred murmuring.

"I cannot believe you think that French music is worse than British music when you probably haven't even bothered to learn the language, let alone listen to it." Francis muttered vaguely in Arthur's direction.

Arthur looked over at Francis. "Qui dit que je n'ai pas?" (Who says I haven't?)

The Frenchman looked positively distraught at the knowledge that Arthur spoke French. Arthur presented Francis with the smuggest grin he had ever seen.

After a few seconds he managed to reply: "Eh, tout cela signifie, c'est que nous pouvons nous battre en français maintenant" (Hey, all this means is that we can fight in French now)

"GUYS Guys guys listen, listen man, y'all have been fighting a helluva lot- helluva- hella lot-…a lot, but Monique or Monica or whatever said we needed to bond!" Alfred slurred, apparently when Arthur and Francis were busy fighting, they weren't the only ones drinking. "and this-" He gestured vaguely with pointed fingers at the two of them "this ain't looking like bonding to me. Look, guys, there's a whole bunch of instruments here, we all seem suffic-..Enough drunk, so let's come on and play some damn music!"

"Welllll…" Yao began, dragging the 'L', "what could we _possibly_ agree to sing?"

Alfred, having shakily stood up, was facing away from the group. "Why…it's oblivious- obvious- isn't it?"

"Um, no?" tried Ivan, surprisingly loudly.

"Well, everybody loves 'NSync don't they?"

"Oh _mon dieu_"

"Wait, Alfred, aren't you, like 19? Isn't the drinking age in the US 21?" Arthur asked once he was set up with the guitar.

"Nah, man it's cool, I'm, like, taller than most of you, therefore its toootally fine"

"I'm not sure that-"

"OKAY!" Alfred clapped his hands together, cutting Arthur off, "OBVIOUSLY I'll be singing all of Justin Timberlake's parts, uuuhm Arthur can be JC, uh, and you guys are the ones that basically harmonise in the background"

"What, you mean Lance, Joey and Chris?" Ivan corrected.

Everyone swivelled around, albeit carefully, to look at Ivan with raised eyebrows.

"Oh come on, it's not like you guys aren't secretly 'Nsync fans either" Ivan said, with alcohol fuelled confidence.

There was a few seconds of muttering and nods of the head, and it was discovered that really, they all liked 'Nsync. I mean, who doesn't?

"Wait so you don't know 'Baby Spice' but you can list the members of Nsync just like that?!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Ok, we all clear?" Alfred called, almost forgetting he was drunk, "We should sing Bye Bye Bye first because DUH it's the coolest one, I mean, they were all dressed up like puppets, like, on strings 'n shit" finished Alfred, remembering he was drunk.

* * *

(HEY NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO GO ON YOUTUBE OR WHATEVER AND LISTEN TO BYE BYE BYE WHILE READING THIS NEXT PART)

Once Alfred turned on the song on his ipod, after they realised that none of them knew the notes on the instruments for the song, they began.

However, once Alfred had done the opening 'hey-eeeey' complete with a (drunk) finger wiggle, the others started to snigger and break out in (drunk) giggles during the first 'bye bye bye'.

Francis tried to remember the way the song went and realised Arthur had the first verse. This would actually be a good way of assessing how good each of them were, and give him a chance to be better than Arthur at singing if he was as bad at singing as Francis hoped, which he could laugh at him about later, except-

"iiiiii'm doing this tonight…."

_Shit. He's good. This ruins everything. _Francis looked over at Arthur during the rest of the verse to gage how serious he's being. _Maybe if he's trying to hard I can say that he isn't as good a singer when he's not really trying- wait that is a terrible comeback what are you thinking? _Except, when he got a good look at his face and posture he could tell he was pulling faces and doing ironically bad boyband dance moves- he wasn't serious at all. In fact he seemed drunker than ever. _Oh and now he's harmonising with Alfred. Great. He's fucking good at that too. _

Francis didn't know how it got to him and Arthur irritating each other so much, but he did know that knowing Arthur was actually good at singing and not just some _stupid British band singer _was making his blood boil (and race- but he'll never admit to it). With his stupid scruffy hair and stupid gorgeous singing voice. God, what a dick.

* * *

(OK YOU CAN STOP LISTENING TO NSYNC IF YOU WANT, BUT NOW THERE'S GOING TO BE A TIME JUMP SO I'D LIKE YOU TO IMAGINE THEM SINGING OTHER NSYNC SONGS REALLY DRUNK, SUCH AS 'IT'S GONNA BE ME', 'I'LL NEVER STOP', 'POP', 'TEARIN UP MY HEART' ETC-)

Monique returned to the locked room to see Yao lying on the floor, Ivan slumped in his chair, Arthur sat on the floor cross-legged with the guitar, Francis barely standing behind the keyboard and Alfred beginning to sing 'This I Promise You'

(HEY FRIENDLY SUGGESTION TO LISTEN TO IT WHILE READING AGAIN)

Arthur had already played the first notes while Alfred tried his best to mimic the classic boyband ballad movements from his chair.

When it got to the first chorus Monique was surprised that Ivan and Yao joined in the harmonies even though she thought they were passed out.

It seemed like they were so drunk that they were doing this completely seriously, with all the emotion of 5 tired, emotional drunk guys trapped in a room multiplied by 10.

When it got to Arthur's parts, he was so into it that he sometimes forgot to keep playing the guitar at the same time, while the others were too into it to even notice.

However, despite the amount of alcohol affecting the occupants of the room, Monique counted this as not only a success on the bonding side of things, but a good assessment of just how good they could be when they want to- except maybe a better test would be when they were sober. Fortunately, Monique spied Alfred's phone stood on a table facing the group, as if it were filming them.

She picked up the phone and found that Alfred had recorded each of the songs they had performed. Monique decided that she should send the videos to her own cell phone so she could watch the earlier songs, when they weren't as drunk and actually- as Monique looked back at them- awake, as now Arthur, the last one standing/sitting, finally let his eyes close and collapsed into the legs of the chair next to him, which in turn knocked into the one next to that and the one next to that and made such an obnoxious clattering noise that they all snapped awake again.

* * *

i am very sorry if you hate NSync haha

what if i called this 'the NSync chapter'

So, what did ya think of such an 'interactive' chapter? I figured that it'd be cooler to listen to the songs you're supposed to imagine them singing while you read what's going on at the same time, or listen then read or vice versa. I certainly listened to a lot of NSync while writing this. You're welcome.

also you might have figured out that Ivan at this point isn't as confident as he is in canon, but that's because he isn't used to them yet. He'll be back to his usual self once he's warmed up to them. Also he gets more confident with them when he's drunk because it's like, liquid confidence or something, right?

I don't know, I think I shouldn't have written it like they were having a lot of fun getting drunk, because that sounds like it's glorifying alcohol abuse or something, and even then I'm not exactly experienced with alcohol so all I know and wrote is from TV or other fanfics, but I was only really making them mess up their words and act only slightly differently. I dunno, just don't be persuaded to be alcoholic or something from reading such a shitty fanfic, ok?

Also I made Alfred get a hint of a southern drawl when he is tipsy, what's up with that?

I just realised that I should probably ask for reviews or something so you guys can tell me what I'm doing wrong, so could you do that please?


	8. Chapter 8

Alfred finally reached his building. It wasn't exactly the most expensive end of town, but he didn't see any reason why he would need a fancier set up just because he was a pop star. Also he couldn't really imagine not living with his roommate, Kiku. Alfred and Kiku had lived together since Kiku transferred over from Japan 5 years prior, and they've been close friends ever since.

As he dragged his luggage up the stairs, he reminisced about his and Kiku's time together. At first, Kiku was very reserved and aggressively shy, and wasn't used to the American lifestyle. He constantly marvelled at the way Alfred would go about his day, what he ate, how he sped through chores and his loud reactions to the TV. However, now Kiku would eat more fast food, be more relaxed about cleaning, exclaim at the TV and sometimes even join Alfred at dancing when a particularly catchy song starts to play. He'd really loosened up, in Alfred's opinion. It was definitely less awkward, although he did have his moments where he would apologise too much for insignificant things, or blush profusely over the mere mention of sex, which is unfortunate because he lives in a culture where sex sells and therefore is absolutely everywhere. The more Alfred thinks about it, the more he thinks about how amazing Kiku is, when they'd spend all night watching horror films and playing video games, or simply just enjoying each other's company. Without being too candid, Alfred could even call them soulmates.

_Standing right outside your shared apartment about to walk in is not the right time to realise you love your roommate. _Alfred cursed to himself as he put his key in the lock, praying Kiku wouldn't be home to see the schoolboy blush rising on his cheeks, or the panicked expression in his eyes. He'd be sure to worry, or assume the worst about his trip to Monaco.

_Ah, the trip to Monaco. The band. Yes, think about that, that's pretty big. Not as big as the freaking huge crush you have on a guy who you're about to walk in on. Calm, think of Mattie, that always neutralises your thoughts. How is Mattie? I bet he's doing fine up in Toronto… _Alfred snapped out of his thoughts to the sound of the door unlocking.

"Alfred-san! You're back! And you're in the way!"

Alfred looked down at the smaller man, who was dressed to go out, as Kiku often did- it was natural for him to put effort into his outfit when leaving the house, but dress in the complete opposite when staying indoors.

"Now is that really the way to greet your roommate after not seeing him for a week? 'You're in the way!' you're really getting the hang of being in New York!"

"It's been 5 years, Al! I think I count as a New Yorker at least a little bit" Kiku laughed.

Alfred dropped his bags and swung his arms up to embrace Kiku in a warm hug.

"God I missed you."

Alfred just figured the best way to deal with it would be to gradually become more and more affectionate until he loves him back, or until Kiku rejects him and ruins his life. This was going to take a while.

* * *

3 weeks later

Alfred had gotten the email only a few days before, that the next meeting would be in New York, and they would be writing and producing a song over the course of a week, then do some promotional work like the announcement, the interviews and so on indefinitely. It all seemed to be happening so fast, but at least it's in New York rather than Europe.

He remembered what happened when they first met, except what he did remember didn't amount to much, due to the alcohol involved, he recalled meeting them all, Arthur and Francis arguing and for some reason, everyone was singing NSync, but that sounded too good to be true to Alfred, so he just assumed that it was a drunken imagining.

He arrived at the building at the address he was given, and was directed to a large elevator. Once the elevator jolted to a stop, the doors opened to reveal a large run-down looking room, with exposed brick walls and old grey floorboards, except it seemed to be furnished expensively, with a cushy living room area, complete with beanbags, sofas and a TV, a dining area, and in the space furthest away from Alfred, were the rest of his bandmates who appeared to be writing a song. Without him. Rude.

"Hey you couldn't at least wait for me to arrive first!" Alfred called out.

Arthur looked up from the notepad they were gathered around, "Relax, we've only managed to do the chorus"

"And the chords for the verses" added Ivan.

"And the melody" Yao also added.

"How come you're getting on better than last time?" Alfred questioned.

"We're not" Francis replied, not looking up from the notepad, "We just want the song to sound right, we are all musicians after all."

"Oh, ok, that makes more sense." Alfred commented before joining them around the table. At least he could have some input on the verses, if anything.

After about 3 hours they had written the rest of lyrics and sorted out the harmonies. It turns out that Monique had given them more freedom than they thought in terms of composing, but Alfred hadn't ever really written songs for himself, as did Yao and Ivan, but Arthur and Francis' bands wrote all their own stuff, so they happened to be the resident experts when it came to song writing. Yao had always wanted to write his own music, and he was starting to get more excited about the prospects of this group. It'll prove to his producers that he can do his own thing and take control of his musical direction.

Monique arrived later, once they'd finalised the song, and they performed it for her acoustically. As they played, Arthur could tell this would be a hit, but not only that, the song just felt gorgeous to sing. He hadn't sang as part of a vocal group before, and their voices together just worked- the harmonies, the tones, the sound of their voices combined just flowed like they'd sang together for years and it was refreshing like they were on an entirely new wavelength. The personalities of the others? Well, he'll just have to adapt.

Luckily, Monique liked the song, and they moved to the studio that was also part of the set up Monique had on this floor, where they mixed the synth and recorded the instruments- Arthur volunteered to play the electric guitar and the bass for the track (because he plays both of them, and wanted to be even more involved in the process than just providing his voice). Francis watched with the others while Arthur played into the equipment via complex cables and systems that made hardly any sense to any of them.

After Arthur had done providing instrumental layers, they added the electronic layers, the synth, until it was finished enough to start adding vocals.

Due to Monique's arrangements, it had been generally agreed that Alfred would start, because if they started with the American, it wouldn't alienate the American audience, who were their first target as the American music industry generally influence what's listened to around the world (if the artist is popular enough). Also Monique had designated Alfred as the 'leader', so he had to 'lead'.

After another couple of hours recording and mixing, the final product was ready and Arthur was right, it was simply gorgeous to listen to. Monique immediately began sorting out how they were going to announce the supergroup while the supergroup in question went off to their separate quarters. It just so happened that instead of booking a hotel for an indeterminate length of time, Monique had literally set them up in their own floor of a high rise building in New York, it wasn't just a studio.

"Alfred you know you don't have to stay here with them, you live relatively close to here, you can just come back tomorrow." Monique said, in between important phone calls.

"That's ok, I brought my overnight stuff, so I can stay here too, I'm sure my roommate wouldn't mind" Alfred responded, thoughts returning back to his roommate. Maybe some time away would help him clear his head and prevent him from making any embarrassing slip-ups in front of Kiku. He'd just need to collect more of his things tomorrow and he'll be set.

Monique finished her last call and turned to Alfred again "Ok I've got the band booked for a major TV show in a couple of weeks, that'll give us time to rehearse, promote and co-ordinate, the TV show will be where we make the announcement. It'll shock everyone- it's insane but it's worked in the past"

"Wait but what is the band called? No-one's going to be able to tell anyone to check us out if they have no idea what we're called"

"I have no idea…how about we just keep it as 'International Supergroup' until we think of something catchier"

"Uh, sure. Well g'night!" Alfred called as he went off to try to find his room.

"Good night, Alfred." Monique replied "..And good luck, me" she finished to herself, once she was left in the empty room.

* * *

**Ooooh, you'll just have to wait until they perform it to know what the song I've chosen for them**

**It's probably useful to know that unless the original artist is mentioned in the fic, any song they 'write' that already exists irl is an 'original' song in this AU- so for instance, NSync existed in this AU, because they referenced them, but the original artist of this song that they're 'writing' in this chapter does not exist in the AU. Also I probably should put that I don't own any songs or copyrights or whatever that are mentioned or used in this fanfic, it's all just to add to the reading experience**

**Also I genuinely have no idea what the supergroup should be called, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm thinking perhaps something that says that it's a supergroup or is international or something**

**AND apologies for the lack of FrUK this chapter, I promise I'll make the entire next one from only their perspective. I mean, I felt guilty about the lack of promised Ameripan for the rest of the fic so i tried to make up for it this chapter, so the next one will be FrUK.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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